I used to enjoy my evening constitutional from the wrong end of the A gates up to the Champagne and Caviar bar towards the other end of the B gates, then back to the old BA lounge at the C gates. Particularly marvellous is an arrivals concourse that morphs, via long escalators, from above the departure gates in C to below them in B. Helped fill in a lot of a five hour layover. The champagne was a waste of money, but it tasted nicer than the stuff at BA.
The Marhaba transfer people are very nice and know all the tricks, including short cuts involving lifts hidden around corners, little used and quiet security desks, which of the umpteen transfer desks to recheck at, how to get your bags retagged, and best of all they get you priority through security. If you're unsure and don't want to pay for a Marhaba, the people everywhere in the blue T-shirts are also pretty helpful.
However, like everything Dubai they are not cheap (about $80 for a standard transfer), and you have to find the Marhaba desk in the first place unless you want to pay more for a 'your name on a sign' transfer at the arrivals gate. If you don't have lounge access you can pay for an inclusive transfer + marhaba lounge service, which is half the price of paying for the lounge at the door. The Marhaba lounge is not inspiring, except at terminal 2 where it is much more inspiring than the great unwashed. The Marhaba desks are located here:
Terminal 1 (D gates) - follow the red 'connections' signs to the row of transfer desks on the departure level. They are the desk on the far right.
Terminal 2 (F gates) - arriving flights are bussed to doors into the arrivals area. As you go through the doors, the Marhaba desk is immediately to the right.
Terminal 3 (A, B and C gates) - My memory is fuzzy as I don't usually use them for EK>EK, and DXB's maps don't help. There are red 'connections' signs and I would follow them, asking the blue T-shirt people. I'll be transiting T3>T2 in a couple weeks and have another look.
Baggage checked to Dubai only? Have an onward flight and don't want to clear customs? You can usually pay Marhaba (of course, this is Dubai!) to get your bag tagged through to your next destination - this is their main value. Go to the Marhaba service desk in the terminal you arrive and they will check you in on your onward flight, and usually (every time I've asked so far) through check your bags using your baggage receipt. Don't pay the extra for personalised transfer as luggage checking isn't included and you have to pay again for the counter service (learning from bitter experience).
We land around midnight and have booked the Transit Hotel - we appear to be in terminal A. I was planning a bit of a sleep and shower and then breakfast at the F lounge in A, before going to C where our plane to Nairobi departs.
I have walked from C to A before (plus train) and didn’t think it took us that long, but it sounds like maybe we should just go to th F lounge in C straight away to be safe? Obviously we would already have done security, so that doesn’t have to be factored in?
If you've booked the transit hotel (Dubai International Hotel), their people should also meet you at your gate if you provide your arrival and departure flight numbers, and they'll usually escort you to the Hotel at the Concourse your departing flight is most likely to leave from, even if you've booked different. In this case Marhaba is redundant. There are transit hotels at A, B and C, and they're all fine. If you want a particular hotel, they'll take you there (you might pay a little more). From A to C would be about 30 minutes. I usually go for the B gates hotel because it's an each way bet - if your flight doesn't depart from B its a (longish) walk to C, or a train ride to A. Breakfast at the B gates F lounge is just as nice as A, you just miss out on the lifts direct from lounge to airbridge. The menu in C is the same as the others, but the lounge itself is inferior.
Don't assume an EK flight will arrive/leave from the same concourse that it did yesterday. The only safe assumption is that if you're on a 777 it won't be at the A gates.
Cheers skip